I've used the jet kit from Dr. Jeykle of the Yahoo Sherpa group and my 2001 Sherpa will do an honest top speed of 79 mph indicated on my GPS. Comfortable cruise speed with stock gearing is 50 to 60 mph. I am 6' 3" and weigh 210 lbs. The highest mpg i've gotten was 84.3, but that was running along on a river road at an average speed of 35 mph. I consistently get in the 65-70 mpg range. The bike is a hoot to drive, and has taught me that a smaller cc bike can be a great tool.

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That sounds about right.

We got 92 mpg on one trip, which I had heard from other riders before, but didn't believe it since it usually gets about 70 mpg or so.

The Sherpa is jetted lean - very lean - from the factory. Dr J's kit makes it less lean at all engine RPMs at very little loss (maybe no loss) of fuel mileage.

As altitude increases, engines run more rich as they gulp that thinner air while using more fuel. Therefore, without any other changes, the engine is now running more rich - which means that the Sherpa - again, with or without rejetting - is running more like a well tuned one would be running at sea level.

Actually most newer (carburetor) bikes will behave this way. It's not something unique to the Sherpa, or say, my west coast KLR, which spends a lot of time at 7,000 to 9,000 feet. It runs fine up there. I really don't feel any difference.

Back in the "old days", 2-stroke engines would blubber and foul plugs more quickly up in the mountains.

People who are up there full time sometimes alter their carb settings, which involves more than just turning a screw, but others don't bother and have no problems.

The Sherpa is well known for being "cold blooded". Start the engine, adjust choke, and it will often stall immediately if you attempt to ride off right away. That's at sea level. My wife is usually on the Sherpa and likes to warm it up for a couple minutes before riding it, but when I ride it, I can immediately ride away with the choke opened about 1/2 way, and push the knob down gradually as I ride.

Thanks for the info. I'm still catching up on the "new" technology, and the even "newer" (EFI) technology.

I remember as a kid witnessing the changing of timing on cars and bikes when getting up to higher altitudes, and then later learning to do this myself. Here's a link that will bring back some memories, check out the ignition timing section. http://www.performanceindian.com/Timing.html

I've used the jet kit from Dr. Jeykle of the Yahoo Sherpa group and my 2001 Sherpa will do an honest top speed of 79 mph indicated on my GPS. Comfortable cruise speed with stock gearing is 50 to 60 mph. I am 6' 3" and weigh 210 lbs. The highest mpg i've gotten was 84.3, but that was running along on a river road at an average speed of 35 mph. I consistently get in the 65-70 mpg range. The bike is a hoot to drive, and has taught me that a smaller cc bike can be a great tool.

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Thx for the report. Did you see that top speed with stock gearing? Not bad. I have the Dr. J kit and also went up a tooth on the front gear so I guess a might see a bit better than 79 mph on the top end.

Has anybody dropped the counter sprocket to give it more bottom end and removed some of the junk on it to get a little trials type attitude? My local dealer is waiting for it's arival so I haven't seen one up close, but it does seem narrow in the pics and seems like it would make a good trials type trail bike.

My Sherpa came with a 13-tooth front sprocket (stock is 14) and it definitely gave the bike a more 'agricultural' feel that would probably be well-suited to trials-type riding. I switched to a 15-tooth sprocket because most of my riding is on the street and the gearing was just too low with the 13-toother.

The bike is very narrow and could probably be lightened a bit by removing whatever you didn't need for trials riding (cosmetic plastics, pillion pegs, lights, mirrors, etc.).

Has anybody dropped the counter sprocket to give it more bottom end and removed some of the junk on it to get a little trials type attitude? My local dealer is waiting for it's arival so I haven't seen one up close, but it does seem narrow in the pics and seems like it would make a good trials type trail bike.

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My Sherpa actually came with an _11_ tooth front sprocket on it when I got it. You could put it in first gear, let out the clutch, and walk along beside it. It was worn to the point of being hooked when I got the bike, so I replaced it pretty quickly.

I don't think I'd got below a 13 tooth countershaft sprocket, though a 12 tooth is easily available (Moose M602-26-xx, where xx is the number of teeth, 12-15 available). I have a KLX250 case saver and sprocket cover installed on my Sherpa. They're less bulky than the stock cover, and don't hold the mud in as much.

For the rear sprocket, you'd probably have to go to someone like Sprocket Specialists to get something larger than stock.

Also, if you want to put a trials tire on the rear, you'll want to put a chain on that's long enough to have the adjusters all the way out. The tire will hit the swingarm if you don't.

If that's the kind of riding you like, the bike will probably work decently well for it. Be careful of banging up the stock skid plate too much, though. It's not very thick.

I thought this might be a good place to post a wish from the wife. She/thus WE are in the market for a good, used Super Sherpa. Anyone know of one available? Shoot me a note at bill_dragoo@hotmail.com if you do.

I thought this might be a good place to post a wish from the wife. She/thus WE are in the market for a good, used Super Sherpa. Anyone know of one available? Shoot me a note at bill_dragoo@hotmail.com if you do.

Thanks,
Bill Dragoo
Norman, Oklahoma

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There's a guy on the Yahoogroups Sherpa list about a couple weeks ago that says he's got an '03 in N. Florida he wants to sell, figures on asking $2500. You'd probably have to join that group to contact him.

Thanks for the tip on the Florida Sherpa. I'll check it out. Otherwise...still looking for one close to Oklahoma. Wife also has an XT 225 she might trade. She liked a Sherpa belonging to a friend that she recently rode.

This is my first post...I hope it works!
First thing First, What a wonderfull website. Love the stories and pictures.
Good Job to all.
Last April I bought my 2007 Super Sherpa new from the Kawi. dealer. What a fun bike. Right now up here in Nova Scotia we are buried in snow, but I am dreaming of summer. Last summer I put about 5000km on the bike, every bit of it was a blast. The best part was laughing at everyone as I went past the gas station.
I live on Cape Breton Island and the longest trip I did was I tied the tent, sleeping bag and of courst beer on the back and spent two days going around Cabot Trail (about 600km round trip from my house). The Cabot Trail is a bikers dream, lots of twisties, ups and downs and lots to look at. (google it) I did the trip in the first week in October and pretty much had the road and campground to my self. If anyone is up this way it is worthwhile doing.
The bike worked perfect, I am 165lbs, 5'8" I am not sure how much the camping gear weighed but the bike pulled me up some pretty steep hills with no problems.
Can't wait till next summer.

You need to post a ride report of your Sherpa adventure - with pictures

One Tooth said:

This is my first post...I hope it works!
First thing First, What a wonderfull website. Love the stories and pictures.
Good Job to all.
Last April I bought my 2007 Super Sherpa new from the Kawi. dealer. What a fun bike. Right now up here in Nova Scotia we are buried in snow, but I am dreaming of summer. Last summer I put about 5000km on the bike, every bit of it was a blast. The best part was laughing at everyone as I went past the gas station.
I live on Cape Breton Island and the longest trip I did was I tied the tent, sleeping bag and of courst beer on the back and spent two days going around Cabot Trail (about 600km round trip from my house). The Cabot Trail is a bikers dream, lots of twisties, ups and downs and lots to look at. (google it) I did the trip in the first week in October and pretty much had the road and campground to my self. If anyone is up this way it is worthwhile doing.
The bike worked perfect, I am 165lbs, 5'8" I am not sure how much the camping gear weighed but the bike pulled me up some pretty steep hills with no problems.
Can't wait till next summer.

Well a ride report..OK...I am not very good at story telling or spelling but here it goes....
The cabot trail is in the high lands national park in Nova Scotia. The park is open year round but the main tourist season is from July 1 to around the first week in September, but because of the leaves changing color a lot of tourists stick around. Makes for some pretty riding.
In October it starts getting a bit chilly at night and first thing in the morning but the days warm up nice. Snow does not start until November.

So in the morning I tied everything on to the back of the bike with the help of a few bungie cords. My wife took my picture. ( I will post it as soon as I figure out how) I waved goodbye and was on my way.
Now my Sherpa is all stock I have not done any mods yet. So as we all know the Sherpa does not have a very big gas tank.
I have gone around the cabot trail about 10 years ago with my wife in a car and I could not remember how many gas stations there were. So gas was a concern, with the extra weight and the steep grades to come.
But ya snooze ya loose...so I took the chance...I decided to just stop at all the gas stations I came across and top up.

I live just outside of Sydney Nova Scotia, so I hooked on to the Trans Canada highway 100km/h or 60m/h and the bike pulled me along as easy as can be...Other than the wind when big truck would go by the other way...you got to hang on.:eek1
I turned off the highway to take the englishtown ferry. It is a small cable ferry that cuts off a bit of time. If I do this trip again I will stick to the road. But at the time I could not remember how long the trip would take and I wanted to get to the campground with some time left in the day to drink my beer.

So riding along...a few twisties, some road construction (not too long a delay no big deal) and I got to a place called wreck cove and there was a gas station it is called the General Store ( has food, supplies and gas etc...) I topped my tank up and gave the very nice owner $1.95 and talked about the bike.
I don't know if you guys get the same thing or not but when ever I stop someone comes over to ask about the bike...What size is it?...what is the gas milage?....wish I had one....
Back in October the price for gas here was $1.40/ liter. Not sure what that is per gallon... but thank God I bought my Sherpa!!!

Back on the road ...a few more twisties...some more road construction. Than I got to Cape Smokey. Cape Smokey is a mountian that the road starts at 0 feet above sea level and goes almost straight up to 1000 feet above sea level. At the top there is a picnic area and a look off that looks 1000 feet straight down to the ocean.:eek1
I pulled over parked the bike and watched a ship go bye that looked like a dot, wow!
Than I realized the camera was sitting on my kitchen table.

After I went down the other side of Cape Smokey, a few more twisties then I got to a place called Ingonish. Which is the entrance of the Highlands National park where you pay your entry fee based on how long you plan on being in the park. Go on the parks canada web site to see the fee rates.
In Ingonish there is more gas stations, restaurants and of course gift shops and so on.
I didn't need anymore gas yet and my next stop will be Neils harbour or Cape north. I figured one of those places must have gas....So i kept buzzing along.

Now there is always some debate on which way to "do the cabot trail" clockwise or counter clockwise. I don't think it really matters, It just depends on what you want out of your trip. There are a lot of pull off look offs and you can see everything from either side of the road. There are campgrounds throughout.
I did it by the sun...I wanted to see the sun set at the end of the day, so I had to camp on the west side.So I went counter clockwise. If I wanted to see the sun rise from the camp site I would have to have gone clockwise. Hope you understand.

Back to the road... Never saw any bikes so far....
In no time at all I was past Neil's Harbour and got to Cape North and a gas station.... I squeeeeezed $1.30 in the Sherpa's tank.
Now at cape north the road splits off and one way goes to Meat Cove, which is the farthest point of land on Cape breton Island. I recommend you take this side trip...Of course I didn't....I should have gone, I was disappointed that I didn't.

The next part was the best, lots of ups and downs, hairpin turns. It was a blast... the Sherpa loved it.... I was very impressed with my bike.
One warning make sure you have good brakes. When I say ups and down I mean very steep ups and downs.
There are look offs everywhere I recommend to stop at each one, and bring binoculars. I bet some of the gullies that you see have never seen a human footprint.
What a beautiful day it was the sun beating down, no wind, very little traffic I had the place to myself. Which was great except I had hoped to see some other bikers...Other travelers like me... ya know to get that two wheeled connection that binds us all together...but no bikes, in a way it made me feel alone.